Singapore starts focusing on data centres that meet environmental sustainability standards

Sustainability is seen as a competitive difference by 57 percent of data center providers

Singapore is becoming more cautious of data centre investments as it shifts its focus to anchoring data centres that are prime examples of resource efficiency. That way, they can contribute towards Singapore’s economic and strategic objectives, according to The Straits Times.

Jonathan Koh, research director at UOB Kay Hian, told the publication that in 2020, Data centres accounted for 7 percent of total electricity consumption in Singapore. He added, “The Singapore Government has committed to halving carbon emissions by 2050. Our commitment to climate change and to protect the environment means that we have to be very selective when granting approvals to build new data centres”

The Singapore Green Plan 2030 is the country’s 10-year plan to promote sustainable growth and reach net zero emissions as quickly as possible. Its goals include deploying enough solar energy to power 350,000 homes annually, reducing garbage sent to landfills by 30 percent, and ensuring that at least 20 percent of schools are carbon-neutral.

More: Singapore and the green move to economic recovery

451 Research conducted a survey called Multi-tenant Data Centers and Sustainability: Ambitions and Reality that had respondents from across the globe, including Australia, China, France, Japan, Singapore, and the United States.

Sustainability is seen as a competitive difference by 57 percent of data center providers, according to the study. Unfortunately, only 43 percent claim they have strategic initiatives and efficiency improvements in place and only 56 percent of more than 800 operators polled said they monitor their operational systems. 

The Business Times recently reported that public agencies in Singapore will roll out applications for data centres concentrating on meeting environmental sustainability standards by Q2. 

Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information, said during the debate on his ministry’s budget in Parliament on 4 March that this will “facilitate the calibrated growth of data centres that possess the best-in-class techniques, and technologies and practices for energy efficiency and decarbonisation.”

The Property Report editors wrote this article. For more information, email: [email protected].